Brooke Shields woke up in an ambulance. When she saw who was holding her hand, she thought she'd died.

Brooke Shields was preparing for a cabaret show when it happened.

One minute, she was having a drink of water, and the next thing she knew she was waking up in an ambulance.

The actress shared details of the sudden health scare during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

"I was drinking a lot of water, and I drank too much water and I had a seizure," Shields told Fallon.

Watch: Brooke Shields speaks to 'Variety' about her film 'Pretty Baby'. Post continues after video.

"It was a grand mal seizure where I was literally frothing at the mouth and, like, turning purple. And that's all I remember."

A grand mal seizure involves a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. It's usually caused by epilepsy, but may have other triggers, such as very low blood sugar, high fever, or a stroke.

When Shields came to, she was in an ambulance with none other than fellow actor Bradley Cooper, 50, who apparently happened to be nearby.

"I woke up in the ambulance, and Bradley Cooper was holding my hand," Shields said.

"I looked at him, and he said, 'I'm gonna go to the emergency room with you, Brooke', and I was like, 'I guess I didn't make it'," she joked, implying she was in heaven.

"I'm like, 'I'm okay with that.'"

Shields and Cooper first met in 2007 while working on the film The Midnight Meat Train. At that point, Shields was a well-established star while Cooper was just coming up in the industry.

The 59-year-old's story comes days after the release of her memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Ageing as a Woman.

As well as sharing the Bradley Cooper story in the book, the model wrote about a deeply disturbing experience she had with a surgeon who went rogue without her consent.

Initially, Shields consulted her gynaecologist about ongoing discomfort, including bleeding and chafing she had experienced since her teenage years. In response, her doctor recommended labia reduction surgery to address these medical issues.

The procedure wasn't covered by insurance as it was considered cosmetic, but Shields decided to proceed with the surgery for health reasons.

She opened up to Us Weekly about the experience. "Of course, it's not covered by insurance because it's considered cosmetic, which is very interesting," Shields said, raising concern over why it was classified this way when the issue had nothing to do with aesthetics.

"The last time I did check, I did not want to be a porn star," she said.

After the surgery, during a post-operative checkup, her male surgeon revealed he had performed an additional procedure without her knowledge or consent.

He "legitimately proudly" informed her that he had "thrown in a little bonus" or "a little twofer", he boasted, which was a vaginal rejuvenation procedure that tightens the vagina.

Shields was left "dumbfounded" by this revelation and described the surgeon's actions without her consent as "such an invasion, such a bizarre, like, rape of some kind".

The experience left Shields dealing with feelings of shame and anger, and she initially found it difficult to discuss the incident, even with her husband, Chris Henchy.

The actress emphasised she had never expressed an interest in the additional 'irreversible' procedure. "Nothing pointed toward this need to be tighter or smaller or firmer or younger, especially there," she recalled.

Both Shields and her gynaecologist were outraged by the surgeon's actions.

While she chose not to pursue legal action against the surgeon, she decided to share her story to raise awareness about some ethically dubious practices around women's health.

This week, Shields also revealed her inspiration behind the memoir in an interview with the Los Angeles Times

"I was doing an Instagram Live and people were saying, 'I really wish you looked like you used to'," she told the publication, and Kelly Clarkson on her eponymous talk show.

Shields has previously written books about her postpartum depression and her complicated relationship with her mother, but this memoir has been a different challenge entirely.

When her agent approached her with the idea, the mother-of-two was initially hesitant.

"But as I was thinking about it, it's indicative of age to feel this desire and need to look at where I am in my life and look back differently, but don't stay looking back," she explained.

In the end, Shields decided to pen the book because she didn't want to reflect negatively on ageing, instead making it "funny, irreverent, silly but truthful and have it be positive for women, instead of what we're taught to fear about age."

Feature Image: Getty